Industry News
NFB urges the Government for a fair procurement process
The Treasury has reportedly decided
to end the Private Funding Initiative
(PFI) on the Midland Metropolitan
Hospital following Carillion’s
collapse. The European Investment
Bank, Credit Agricole, KfW IPEX, DZ
Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui were also
part-funding it.
It is understood that the Government
is now exploring the possibility of
putting a revised PFI deal together
to complete the outstanding work on
the hospital and is going to market to
discuss this option.
If a new PFI deal cannot be agreed,
it will most likely be completed as a
government-procured construction
job.
A report by the National Audit Office
into the contractor’s collapse said that
the firm lost around £48 million on
the job in 2017.
Neil Walters, national chair of the
National Federation of Builders,
said: “Change doesn’t just happen,
you have to make it happen. The
Government has said it wants to
learn the lessons from Carillion, but
appears – yet again – to be using
exactly the same procurement method
for a quick fix. There are more
efficient methods of procurement
than PFI available now, that are a
better use of taxpayers’ money, and
we don’t need to wait for the ink to
have dried on the investigations into
Carillion to implement them.”
Latest Construction Output
Data Raises Questions
Over Industry Strength
In 2007, the NFB, was one of the
first organisations to take issue with
how the Government’s approach to
procurement and frameworks put
SMEs at a distinct disadvantage.
A disproportionately onerous
administrative bidding process costs
thousands, even tens of thousands of
pounds, win or lose.
Some of our members report
spending up to 30 days each year on
bidding for work.
We do have mechanisms in place
which have levelled the playing field.
Housebuilders
must belong to New
Homes Ombudsman,
say Parliamentarians
ONS figures published today show that construction output
increased 0.5% month-on-month in April. Calls for mandatory scheme membership
Output was, however, 3.3% lower compared to April 2017, and
on a rolling three-month basis contracted by 3.4%, the largest
fall since August 2012. Alongside this, new orders in Q1 fell 4.6%
quarter-on-quarter and 6.6% in annual terms. A cross-party group of Parliamentarians
has set out proposals for a New Homes
Ombudsman to help provide better redress
for dissatisfied home buyers.
Take A Chance On Mees
Energy efficiency has always been high on our agenda in the
building controls sector but now set to quickly rise up the priority
list. Many of you are already aware of the recent introduction of
the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) that came into
full effect on 1stApril 2018.
Simply put, this new standard has made it unlawful for a landlord
to let or renew a lease on a property if the Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) rating is F or G – it’s as simple as that.
This has raised many discussions and concerns in the building
controls industry over the past few months…
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In its report, published on June 26, the All-
Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence
in the Built Environment calls on the
government to make it mandatory for all
housebuilders to belong to an independent
ombudsman scheme.
The report, Better redress for homebuyers,
says that a New Homes Ombudsman should
be independent, free to consumers and
provide a quick resolution to disputes.
The report also recommends that
government, warranty providers,
housebuilders and consumer group’s work
together to draw up a code of practice
which would be used by the New Homes
Ombudsman to adjudicate on disputes.